September’s jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that our economy added 236,000 private sector jobs, marking the fifty-fifth consecutive month of growth, and the unemployment rate fell to 5.9% - the first time it has dropped below 6% since July 2008.

I am very disappointed that the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that early voting in Ohio can be rolled back by that state’s Republican-led legislature, which has joined other Republican-led states in curtailing access to the ballot.

On their last day of session before the November election, House Republicans brought to the Floor exactly the same kind of partisan messaging bills that they have wasted time on throughout the 113th Congress.

Having campaigned on promises to tackle our deficits and debt, the House Republican Majority has abandoned its responsibility to work toward long-term fiscal sustainability in a bipartisan way, instead ushering in an era of economic uncertainty characterized by government shutdowns, the risk of defaulting on our nation’s debts, and retroactive extensions.

As Thomas Jefferson, and those who wrote with him said, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident.’ What we have found throughout history is, it may be self-evident, but it is not self-executed. That is why this legislation is necessary.

I thank the Gentleman [Ranking Member Adam Smith] for yielding. I thank the Gentleman for his leadership. I thank [Chairman Buck] McKeon for his leadership. We will see today a bipartisan action, a bipartisan action on behalf of America, on behalf of its security, and on behalf of our international partners in confronting terrorism.

Let me tell you, Wade Henderson, Steny Hoyer used to be the Majority Leader. Steny Hoyer had the power as the Majority Leader to put a bill on the Floor or keep it off the Floor. If Steny Hoyer were the Majority Leader of the House, and Nancy Pelosi was the Speaker of the House, this bill would be on the Floor.

In order to put more Americans back to work and expand opportunities for the middle class, our nation must continue to invest in our K-12 schools, expand early childhood education, and ensure higher education is more affordable for Americans.